The Thrones of Blarnia
by sylvrilyn
Summary: Fraggle Rock/Narnia crossover. Who needs Pevensies when you have Fraggles?


**Author:** sylvrilyn  
**Title:** The Thrones of Blarnia  
**Word Count:** 2285  
**Disclaimer:** The Jim Henson Company owns Fraggle Rock. I don't know who owns Narnia these days, but it isn't me. This is just for fun.  
**Author's Note:** Anyone else notice they changed the head wolf's name from Fenris Ulf to Maugrim in the newer editions? Bah.

* * *

**The Thrones of Blarnia**

"Hey guys! I was exploring by the Hole to Who Knows Where and you'll never guess what I found!"

"What, Gobo?"

"A tunnel that's not on Uncle Matt's old map! And it leads to a forest!"

"But Gobo, there aren't any forests in the Rock."

"Then it wasn't _in_ the Rock. There were trees and snow and everything. A funny-looking little guy named Tumnus with horns and hooves took me to his house and made me soup!"

"I'm not going to believe this unless I see it." Red crossed her arms.

"Aww, come on, Red. Wembly, you believe me, don't you?"

"I don't know, Gobo.... It sounds awfully strange."

"Well, come on--I'll show you."

They followed Gobo to the Hole to Who Knows Where and down a narrow tunnel.

"Looks like a dead end to me," Red grumbled.

"It's not there anymore." Gobo plodded all the way back with his head hanging.

***

The next day, Red sneaked back to the Hole to Who Knows Where, arriving in time to see Gobo disappearing down the tunnel. She tiptoed after him, planning to give him a fright when he came out again. But suddenly she realized snow was crunching under her feet.

She stopped and stared as the sound of sleigh bells echoed through the trees. "So Gobo _wasn't_ joking!"

A sledge swept into view with a gorg holding the reigns. On a much higher seat behind him sat the tallest person Red had ever seen, wearing a golden crown upon her seven snowy white ponytails.

The sledge stopped in front of Red and the Lady stared at her. "What, pray tell, are you?"

"My name's Red."

"Is that how you address the Queen of Blarnia?"

"Queen?"

"Oh, yes, and I asked you a question. What are you, some kind of miniature gorg?"

"A gorg!? I'm a fraggle!"

"Do you mean to say you're a Daughter of Jim?"

"Um, I guess so."

The Queen's voice softened suddenly. "My dear fraggle, you look cold. Come sit with me. Would you like a snack?"

Red climbed into the sledge and the Queen wrapped her in a furry blanket.

"What would you like best to eat?"

"Radish bars!"

The Queen took out a copper bottle and let a single drop fall onto the snow. It became a stack of the most delicious looking radish bars, and Red crammed them into her mouth while the Queen asked her questions. Red told her about Gobo, Wembly, and Mokey, and about how none of them had believed Gobo's story about Blarnia.

"Two Sons and two Daughters of Jim?"

"Yeah. Hey, could have some more radish bars?"

The Queen looked down her nose. "I'd like to meet your friends. If you bring them to my house, there will be as many radish bars as you can eat."

"Okay, I'll be back!"

Red hopped down from the sledge, starting back through the forest. The Queen stopped her long enough to point out the way to her house, then let her go.

***

Just as Red reached the tunnel back to the Rock, Gobo panted up behind her.

"Red! You're here too! You can tell the others it's real!"

"Sure, Gobo."

They ran to find Wembly and Mokey, and Red told them about Blarnia.

"Come on, let's go!" Gobo urged. "I'll take you to see my friend Mr. Tumnus."

But when Gobo led them through the trees to the place where he'd had soup the day before, they found the door swinging on its hinges, and a note on the floor.

_The Faun, Tumnus is under arrest for treason against Her Majesty, the Queen of Blarnia. He has been seen comforting Her Majesty's enemies, harboring spies, and fraternizing with fraggles._

_Signed, FENRIS ULF, Captain of the Secret Police_

"She's not really a Queen," Gobo explained. "She's the Glumberglutz who's made it always winter and never Christmas in Blarnia. We've got to rescue Tumnus!"

"Gobo, I think we should go back to the Rock. It's scary here."

"He's in trouble because of me, Wembly. We _have_ to help him!"

"Oh, well, let's go then." Red led the way back out into the snow, but before she could set off toward the Queen's house, a dark furry shape stepped from behind a tree.

"What's that?"

"A beaver," Gobo said. "Hello."

"Shhh. We can't talk here. Some of the trees would betray us to _her_." The beaver led them through the trees to a dam across a frozen river. Slipping and sliding, they crossed the ice to the domed hut in the middle.

Another beaver looked up as they entered. "Oh, Mr. Beaver, they're here at last!"

"Yes. All four of them--Sons and Daughters of Jim."

"Aslan is on the move. Now that they're here, we'd better eat and then hurry to meet him at the Stone Table."

"Who is Aslan?" Gobo asked over a steaming bowl of soup.

"He's the King of the wood. He'll be the one to end this winter, and to rescue your friend."

"Is he a fraggle?"

"Aslan a fraggle? Aslan is _the Lion_."

"Then what's all the fuss about us?"

"An old rhyme foretells your coming and the coming of spring:

_When Jim's fraggles, three plus one  
Sit at Cair Paravel in throne,  
The evil time will be over and done._

So you see, now that you and Aslan have come, the Glumberglutz's reign must soon be ended."

"Hey, where's Red?" Mokey asked, and they fell silent.

"She's betrayed us," Mr. Beaver said. "We must leave before she has time to reach the Glumberglutz's castle."

"How do you know?" Gobo demanded.

"Was she ever here without you?"

"Well, yes, a little while ago, but--"

"Then she's spoken with the Glumberglutz. Her eyes have the look of one who has eaten her food."

"Oh, Red!" Mokey wailed.

Mrs. Beaver passed out sacks of food and they set off into the snow.

***

Red had ducked out while the others were engrossed in their soup and what the Beavers had to say, and trudged through the snow toward the Queen's house, her mind on radish bars. By the time she got there, she was soaking wet.

"You dare return without the others?" the Queen shouted at her.

"I brought them as close as I could. They're at the Beavers' house on top of the dam."

The Queen ordered her wolves to the Beavers' house, summoned a gorg to bring the sledge, and with no time to get dry, they were off again, into the snow.

***

The Beavers and the other three fraggles spent the night in an earthy cave downriver from the dam.

"Oh, it was just a dream," Wembly mumbled, waking in the morning to familiar surroundings.

Sleigh bells reminded them of their predicament and Mr. Beaver scrambled up the bank, hiding among the bushes. A moment later he called, "You can come out! The Glumberglutz's spell is breaking!"

They rushed to follow him, stopping short at the sight of Santa leaning over the edge of his sleigh. "She couldn't keep me out any longer, now that Aslan's returned! I've brought presents for everyone. Good Beavers, yours await you at home. For Gobo, Jim's Son."

Gobo stepped forward, trembling, to receive the sword and shield from Santa.

"Bear them well. The time for their use is at hand. Wembly, Jim's Son."

Wembly took the bow and quiver, staring as though he hadn't the faintest idea what they were.

"Use the bow only in great need. It does not easily miss. Mokey, Jim's Daughter."

Mokey accepted a glittering crystal bottle from his outstretched hand.

"This is fireflower juice from the mountains of the sun. If ever a comrade is hurt, a few drops will heal them."

With a final shout of "Merry Christmas," Santa and his sleigh disappeared again among the trees.

***

Meanwhile, the Queen's sledge had encountered some trouble. The ground became wetter and wetter, and with every moment, the air grew foggier. Red clung to the edge of the seat as the sledge jolted to a stop.

All the Queen's shouting didn't help the gorg get the reindeer moving again, and finally she ordered, "Out! We'll walk. Tie the fraggle creature's hands together and keep hold of the rope."

They forced Red to walk as quickly as she could, though she slipped and slid in the mud.

When a bee buzzed across their path, the gorg stopped. "This isn't just a thaw! It must be because of Aslan!"

"If either of you mentions that name again, you will discover just what the Ordeal of the Glumberglutz entails!"

***

"Oh, look at the flowers!" Mokey exclaimed as they climbed a hill later that day. Springy moss cushioned their tired feet. As they reached the hilltop, they beheld a slab of gray stone in the center, supported by four upright stones.

"The Stone Table," Mr. Beaver announced.

And there, surrounded by a crowd of animals, sat Aslan.

Mr. Beaver pushed Gobo forward, so Gobo drew his sword and saluted clumsily as he approached the Lion. "We have come, Aslan."

"Welcome, Gobo, Son of Jim. Welcome, Wembly and Mokey. Welcome, Beavers. But where is the fourth?"

"She has joined the Glumberglutz, O Aslan," Mr. Beaver said.

"Oh, Aslan, can we do anything to save Red?" Mokey wailed.

"All shall be done."

At that moment, Red herself stumbled onto the hilltop, spurred on by the Glumberglutz and her gorg.

"Move out of the way!" the Glumberglutz commanded. "I have need of the Table."

Aslan moved to stand in front of the Stone Table.

"I have a traitor here, Aslan!"

"Her offense was not against you."

"By the laws of Deep Magic inscribed upon that Table, she belongs to me and must undergo the Ordeal. Otherwise all Blarnia will be drowned in a flood of okra soup!"

Red turned slightly green.

"I do not deny this truth," Aslan said.

"Oh, Aslan," whispered Mokey. "Can't we get around the Deep Magic?"

"The Deep Magic cannot be changed. Fall back, everyone. I will talk to the Glumberglutz alone."

***

After talking with Aslan, the Glumberglutz untied Red and stalked away.

"We will camp at the Fords of Beruna tonight," the Lion said. "This place will be wanted for other purposes."

As they walked, Aslan took Gobo aside to give him advice about the coming battle. "They will all look to you, and I may not be there."

The Lion looked sadder and sadder as the evening drew on, so when Mokey woke in the night and saw him leaving, she woke Wembly and they followed him back the way they'd come, all the way to the Stone Table, where they hid among the trees.

A crowd of the Glumberglutz's followers had gathered there, and they rushed forward as Aslan emerged from the trees.

"The Ordeal of the Glumberglutz!" she announced, striding forward to perch funny-nose glasses on Aslan's noble nose. "You will dance on the table juggling okra soup until dawn."

As though he couldn't do otherwise, Aslan stepped onto the Table and began juggling.

The Glumberglutz swept down the hill past their hiding place.

As the sky lightened at last, a tremendous crack shook the ground, throwing Mokey and Wembly backwards.

Wembly stood up and pointed. "The Table's broken!"

"And things have been put right," a voice said behind them. They turned and threw their arms around Aslan's neck.

"The Glumberglutz knew the Deep Magic, but she did not know that there was a deeper magic still. It says that when a willing victim undertakes the Ordeal for the traitor, her power is broken. Come! Ride on my back!"

They raced down the hill and a terrible noise accosted them, a combination of clashing metal and shouting. Stone statues littered the field before them, with Gobo at their head, only a few of his army still fighting.

"Slip off, now," Aslan directed, and he threw himself upon the Glumberglutz.

Gobo's army cheered, and with the fall of the Glumberglutz, the last of her army scattered.

Gobo stumbled to kneel in front of Aslan. "I thought she would turn us all to stone, but Red broke her wand saved us. Red's hurt, though."

"Mokey," Aslan said, and Mokey remembered the fireflower juice. She hurried to Red and shook a few drops into her mouth, and then at Aslan's direction, tended to the rest of the wounded.

***

The next day, they journeyed to Cair Paravel, the castle by the sea, where Aslan crowned them Kings and Queens of Blarnia. They sat on the thrones and scepters were placed in their hands.

That night, Aslan slipped away during the victory feast, leaving them to rule Blarnia in peace. This they did for years, stamping out the last of the Glumberglutz's army, and entering into alliances with countries beyond the sea. When they remembered the Rock it was as a dream.

They explored all of Blarnia, to the remotest corners, and so it happened that, riding through a forest, they came upon a tunnel.

"It's strange," said Queen Red. "I feel as though I've seen this tunnel before."

"I, too, fair Queen," King Gobo agreed. "Perhaps some great discovery lies beyond."

"I don't think we should go in there," Queen Mokey cautioned.

"Nonsense! We're explorers. This is our destiny. In the name of Aslan!" King Gobo led the way into the tunnel, leaving the others no choice but to follow.

As they emerged into the cavern of the Hole to Who Knows Where, they remembered that they'd had a life before Blarnia, in which they were just ordinary fraggles, not Kings and Queens at all.

"Now _that_ was an adventure!" Gobo exclaimed, setting out for home.


End file.
